"Although the play talks about disability, in the end, neither the creative team nor the audience see disability anymore - they only see the most capable, free people who celebrate their existence, their birth, life itself", - about the play "Holiday", created together with disability with rich people, says director Kamilė Gudmonaitė.
The creators of "Šventė" stage such a performance guided by a clear feeling that disability is still an invisible category of society. In order to understand it, it is necessary to approach both the theater and the audience to the disability itself, trying to look at its essence, observing what the disabled themselves think about disability as a phenomenon. In the performance, the creators aim to expose the concept of normality and raise the question of the possible variety of human existence, the variety of sensations and experiences.
"The creative process was not easy - after all, talking about disability is not common or brave, especially in Lithuania. It took time to open up, to dare to talk about very sensitive and delicate things about ourselves. The whole process revealed the most to me that although the play talks about disability, in the end neither the creative team nor the audience see disability anymore - they only see the most capable, free people who celebrate their existence, their birth, life itself", - about the challenges and director K. Gudmonaitė tells about the discoveries.
Official statistics state that disabled people in Lithuania make up about 9% of the total population - that's almost every tenth inhabitant of the country. However, during the survey, the majority of non-disabled persons boldly state that there are no disabled persons in Lithuania at all.
"In Lithuania, disabled people are still separated without thinking that their subculture could contribute to the cultivation of an alternative, synesthetic or otherwise special existential worldview. For example, people with hearing or vision disabilities have developed excellent tactile abilities, but their worldview is usually isolated by seeing only negative characteristics. They are often forced to develop the same knowledge of the world as those without disabilities, although they could have a different, otherwise more meaningful one. Finally, the question arises, how many disabilities are there in "abled" people, why is it so difficult to accept aspects of our body or personality, what can we learn from the realization that we are all different: diverse, strange, tragic, sometimes funny? its creators.
The title of the performance "Celebration" is like an indication that the audience will be invited to a celebration of existence and diversity, a party of being who you are.
People with various disabilities - physical, mental, mental, sensory - play in the play. "New Theater" helped to bring them together. Dramaturgy is created documentarily, based on their sharing, stories, discussions with the creative team.
The performance is financed by the Lithuanian Council of Culture.
